In 2007, Huell Howser visited Yreka as part of his "California's Gold" public television show and toured the Siskiyou County Courthouse, which housed a gold display that had several valuable nuggets stolen out of it this week. Video used with permission of Huell Howser.

Courtesy of Huell Howser Productions and "California's Gold"

Two thieves make off with an unknown amount of gold after breaking into a display case containing an estimated $3 million worth of the precious metal. Secret Witness is offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the thieves.

Courtesy of the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office

Surveillance camera images
The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office released this photograph of the two suspects, who detectives believe broke into the county's courthouse this week and stole part of the county's historic gold collection.

Images show gold heist

"California's Gold" host Huell Howser interviews Siskiyou County Treasurer Wayne Hammar in front of the gold display at the Siskiyou County Courthouse during an episode filmed in 2007. One of two men involved in the 2012 theft of $1.2 million in gold from the courthouse display in Yreka will not be going to prison, and even if he gets the maximum sentence, he may end up only serving two-and-a-half years in jail. Scott Wayne Bailey, 51, is facing five years at Siskiyou County Jail. He will be sentenced on Sept. 12.

Image courtesy of Huell Howser

Scott Wayne Bailey

David Dean Johnson

YREKA — The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office today identified two men suspected of stealing more than $1 million in gold from the county's historic collection early last year.

Sheriff Jon Lopey said District Attorney Kirk Andrus requested $1 million arrest warrants for David Dean Johnson, 49, of El Cerrito and Scott Wayne Bailey, 51, of El Sobrante. They were issued Tuesday, according to court records.

The pair is charged with burglary and a special allegation of more than $1 million lost. Detectives said the men sneaked into the Siskiyou County Courthouse in Yreka early Feb. 1, breaking into the gold collection and taking the largest nuggets in the case.

"These thieves stole a part of Siskiyou County history, which represents the hard work, sacrifice, traditions, and pioneer spirit which characterizes the personality of Siskiyou County and its citizens – past and present," Lopey said in a statement released by his department.

The warrants are the latest development in a more than year-long investigation into the theft.

"This has been a long an arduous investigation involving the crimes perpetrated by the suspects responsible for burglarizing our court house and stealing an historic gold display and other antiquities which cannot be replaced," Lopey said.

Detectives said Johnson and Bailey made off with $1,257,500 in gold, jewelry and artifacts and used money from the sale of the goods to purchase "high-value" items, Lopey said.

"I can't really give any details but that's one of the facets of the investigation that led us to the suspects," he said.

The entire gold collection before the theft was valued at about $3 million. Lopey said it would be "highly speculative" to guess how much of the gold, if any, would be recovered if the men are arrested.

"We don't know how much of the gold may have been sold and we don't know how much is left. The investigation is still ongoing," he said.

Sheriff's detectives on Thursday traveled to the Bay Area searching for Johnson and Bailey but didn't find them, deputies said. During searches in the area, detectives found additional evidence in the case.

Detectives and agents form the Siskiyou County Interagency Narcotic Task Force in January served search warrants in the Bay Area and Shasta County. Two homes were searched in Redding and Shasta Lake and others in El Cerrito and El Sobrante.

Lopey in November requested warrants based on DNA evidence found in the courthouse but today marks the first time the sheriff's office has named suspects publicly.